Former Police Commissioner Gary Griffith warns that threats against politicians and high-ranking officials are nothing new.
He adds that perhaps the media is being fed too much information. He also weighs in on the government's cancellation of the Independence Day parade over security concerns.
00:00Former Police Commissioner Gary Griffith says threats against government officials should never be made public.
00:07He insists such sensitive intelligence must be tightly guarded and dealt with discreetly.
00:13So you get these death threats on a regular basis.
00:15I had 43 death threats as Commissioner of Police Special Grant stated it was the most by any person in ever held public office, even my family.
00:23And what I did is I kept it to myself.
00:25You don't go public with it.
00:27And all that this will do is cause undue panic, will cause sensationalism, it can affect the image of the country.
00:34So on many occasions, when it is that you have death threats, as Commissioner of Police, again, I said the Prime Minister, the previous Prime Minister, they were death threats on him, they were death threats on his family.
00:44And I kept it to myself.
00:45And what you do is that you put the proper systems in place to minimize the possibility of it happening.
00:50Griffith also shared his view on the Police Commissioner's response to these situations.
00:56Regarding the Independence Day parade, he says, if law enforcement makes a decision based on intelligence information of clear and present danger, the government has no choice but to cancel.
01:07However, he believes the top cop is hitting the panic button too fast.
01:11He is pressing that panic button, and he may have reason to do so, but there is a situation where the prisoners, and there was a perception that prisoners were having access to information being sent outside.
01:24You should virtually shut down the prison, and you're sending those prisoners to another part, another installation in the Coast Guard.
01:31You have a problem where you feel like you're unable to deal with the crime problem.
01:34You went to the Prime Minister and you asked to have a state of emergency.
01:37We have a situation of some threat based on intelligence for Independence Parade, recommendation made to the government to shut down the Independence Parade.
01:45Griffith also weighs in on the practicality of shutting down the parade, and how such a move may be perceived.
01:52Again, if it is that the government, based on a recommendation by the law enforcement agencies to shut down the Independence Parade,
01:59but the law enforcement agencies are telling them, but you can go ahead with a Monday night forum,
02:03we can go ahead with the football game at Trinidad and Tobago versus Curaçao on the 5th of September,
02:07that will have five times more persons than the Queen's Park Savannah for the Independence Parade.
02:11It may cause persons to believe that you're just selectively having choices, you're making choices as to what to shut down and what not to shut down,
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